


Unsual encounter

by mapleprincess



Series: Mercy76 week 2017 [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mercy76 Week, family au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 03:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9953696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mapleprincess/pseuds/mapleprincess
Summary: Angela Ziegler is the single parent of a loving but troublesome kid. When he argues with another child yet once more, she doesn't expect the child's father's reaction.Written for the third day of the Mercy76 week: Family!





	

**Author's Note:**

> Mercy76 single parents AU frick yes!!!  
> I want to write more for this later on aaa

Angela rushed to the playground as soon as she saw Jamison starting to hit the girl. She had seen them starting to argue a few minutes before, but had decided not to intervene; after all, her son was six, and he was able to fend for himself. But physical violence, that was a big nono, especially given the kid's tendencies.

"Jamie! You stop it right now!"

The girl he had been hitting had started to hit back. She was a bit taller than him, but that didn't give her much of an advantage; Jamison was really a little pest when he wanted.  
He didn't even seem to hear her, trying to tear at the girl's brown locks with a ferocious fire in his eyes.

"JAMISON!"

She grabbed him by the waist and tried to yank him away from the other child. But in spite of his young age, Jamison had an unexpected strength, and Angela had a hard time tearing him away from his newfound enemy.  
Finally, she felt him letting go, and heard a new voice above the children's yells:

"LENA! STOP!"

She lifted her azure gaze from her son. The girl - Lena, apparently - was now in the arms of a young, sturdy man. He looked pretty angry, which to her seemed out of place on his angelic face.

"What do you think you're doing, you little punk?! Getting in a fight? On top of that, against a handicapped kid?!"

Angela winced. The guy had unknowingly just hit one of Jamie's berserk buttons. Even though he was missing an arm and a leg, he hated being reminded of it, or treated differently because of his condition.

"Who ya callin' handicapped, ya jerkface? I'm going ta-"  
"Jamison! Don't insult people!"

The young woman was mortified, but she didn't have time to apologize to the man. She had to calm Jamie down first; that kind of crisis tended to exhaust him quickly, and she hated when it happened. Even if he got mad, he was still a good kid- her good kid.  
She put him on the ground, but before he could rush to Lena, she kneeled down, grasped his hands and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Jamison. Look at mommy. I know you're upset, but you have to calm down."

Angela did her best to ignore the stares of people around her, kids and adults alike. She was used to Jamison bringing a lot of attention to them; but it wasn't his fault. It came with his condition. 

"Hitting and insulting people is forbidden, you know that."  
"She insulted me, mommy! She started it! She-"  
"Then you should have come and got me. What you did is bad, Jamison. Am I clear?"

Jamison tried his best to get away from his mother's grip, but before he could, someone was kneeling next to him.

"Listen, kid, I'm sorry if what I said hurt you."

Angela felt a sudden fear piercing through her chest. Jamison was in no state to accept or even hear about apologizes; in those moments, he would only be interested in hitting and shouting. But before he could attack, the man spoke again in a calm tone:

"Buddy, I'm sorry you got in that argument with my daughter. How about we discuss it calmly around an ice cream?"

Angela and Jamison's eyes opened wide. The little blonde had gotten in countless similar fights before, and never had they met parents with such a reaction. Usually, they'd cuss at Angela and her son, and the woman would quickly take her screaming son in her arms and walk away, trying to forget the burning sensation in her stomach.

"I'll take that as a yes. Come on, I know a nice place not far from here."

Jamison blinked several times before looking at his mother. She quickly gathered her spirits and nodded, before lifting her child and taking him in her arms, still not believing what was happening.  
The four people leaved the park in silence. Lena was holding her father's hand in hers, looking curiously at him. 

"That doesn't mean you're not getting grounded tonight, Lena." the blonde warned as they stepped into a cozy ice cream parlor. Angela had passed countless times in front of the shop, but she had never stopped there; from the outside, it looked small and cramped. But the place was in fact very nice looking, with comfortable booths awaiting customers. 

"Hey, Reinhardt!" the man smiled at the person behind the counter.

Angela had never seen such a tall man in her life. The guy, who looked around forty, almost reached the ceiling and had very large shoulders; the pink apron and the small hat on top of his head looked out of place on such a beast of a man.

"Good afternoon, Jack!" he roared with a big smile. "How are you? And you, little princess?"

Lena ran behind the counter with a cheery laugh and hugged Reinhardt, who lifted her up effortlessly. Jamison's grip on his mother's shoulder tightened as he eyed the giant man; clearly, he was impressed. 

"The missy got herself in a fight with the kid over there. Figured it was nothing an ice cream couldn't fix."  
"Well, you were right; my ice cream brings peace to this world!"  
"It does!" Lena agreed, nodding vigourously. 

Reinhardt put her on the ground, and she rushed to the table nearest to the counter. After letting out a warm chuckle, the ice cream man turned his attention to Angela.

"Kids! Always causing trouble. Even my wife's daughter! She's an angel but she still knows how to get herself in trouble. Anyways, who have I the honor to meet in my humble shop?"  
"Oh, I'm Angela- Angela Ziegler, and this is my son Jamison. Say hello, Jamie."  
"Good day..."

She was glad to see Jamison had calmed down faster than usual. After his outbursts, he was very calm, and even tended to fall asleep - though the prospect of a frozen treat probably kept him up.

"Pleasure to meet you, miss Ziegler and Jamison! Please, have a look at the menu, and let me know when you're done."

Reinhardt handed them a pink paper, which Jamison grabbed greedily. Angela then walked to the booth Lena was sat in, sitting down across the little girl and putting Jamison next to her. The kid wrapped his left arm around his mother's arm, shooting Lena a dark glance.

"Jamison. Don't start again." she warned. "Choose what you want."  
"The chocolate sundae is very good!" Lena chimed. "I mean, everything is good here, but that's my favorite!"

Angela smiled at the girl; she seemed sweet. Even after getting in a fight with Jamison, she wasn't looking particularly mad at him, which was more than enough for the young woman.  
Lena father's voice startled her:

"So, have you decided yet?"  
"Oh!"

She hadn't really looked at the menu, but she didn't want everyone waiting after her. 

"I'll trust Lena, and have a chocolate sunday."  
"Me too, daddy, please!"  
"I want a strawberry parfait."

Angela looked at her son with a stern glance.

"What do we say?"  
"... please."  
"You heard that, Reinhardt? Add a vanilla sundae!"  
"Coming right up!"

Jack sat next to his daughter, ruffling the messy brown hair. Lena took a notebook and a pencil case out of her little shoulder back, and startled to doodle while trying to start a friendly conversation with Jamison. The blonde was still looking weary of her, and didn't really answer, but he didn't try to start a fight either.

"You want to draw with me?" Lena proposed. 

She was looking ready to tear a page away from her sketchbook, but Angela took a piece of paper out of Jamison's backpack and handed it to her son.

"That's a nice idea, Lena."  
"That's my girl!"  
"We can share my pencils if you want!"

Jamie looked at his mother, his eyes full of confusion. It wasn't often other children offered to share things with him. Angela smiled at her son.

"Thank you, Lena."  
"Thanks..."

It was more of a mutter than a heartfelt thank you, but it was still something.  
There was an awkward silence between the parents before Angela spoke up:

"Thank you so much for the invitation, mister..."  
"Morrison. But please, call me Jack."  
"O-okay, thank you, Jack."

She didn't intend for her cheeks to start burning, but the man in front of her was too darn good looking. A killer smile, a hint of a stubble around his mouth, and a tender gaze; on top of that, he was the nicest person she had met in a while.

"It's nothing, Angela. Kids tend up to argue for the stupidest reasons. What did you even fight for, private?"

Lena's goofy smile was replaced by a pout, while Jamison smirked at her, probably happy to see her put on the spot in spite of their previous amiable exchange.

"He was being mean to the other kids, so I had to step in."  
"I wasn't being mean! They were the ones not letting me play with 'em."  
"And? They have the right to refuse!" the little girl countered, tone slightly rising. "It's no reason to go and insult people! Just find other chaps to play with!"

Angela sighed. Jamie wasn't very good at making friends- he didn't really have any, save for Mako, his sixteen years old babysitter. 

"Don't raise your tone, Lena." Jack warned.  
"And mind your own business, ya dingus!"  
"Jamison!" Angela said in a firm tone. "Language. And even if you were upset, it was no reason to hit her. You musn't hit people, you know that."  
"But she was being a jerk to me!"  
"When this kind of things happen, come and get me so we can talk it out." 

It seemed like it was the hundreth time they were having this conversation. 

"And what did I tell you to do if another kid starts hitting you, Lena?"  
"Yell for an adult's attention and avoid to hit back. But he was hitting hard, dad!"

Jamison huffed. Angela sighed, but Reinhardt broke the rising tension by bringing their treats to the table:

"Aaand here you go, ladies and gentlemen!"

The Zieglers' eyes immediatly lit up. The ice creams were looking delicious; the desserts were placed in colorful plates and bowls, and covered with rainbow sprinkles. Angela licked her lips; if they were as tasty as they looked, then she had found her new favorite place in town.

"Thank you Reinhardt!" Lena cheerfully exclaimed before digging in her chocolate sunday.

The man laughed loudly, before putting a plate of biscuits in the middle of the table.

"And here's a batch of my special Lebkuchen, on the house. It's impossible to stay angry after one of these! Enjoy!"

-

She didn't know if it was Reinhardt's biscuits or Jack's ability to handle tricky situations, but when Angela walked into her appartment with a sleepy Jamison in her arms, she couldn't stop smiling.

Jack had driven them home, after he had helped settle the argument between their children. Lena and Jamie had exchanged apologizes and finished their drawing sessions; which was way beyond Angela's expectations.  
Tired by their shenenigans, the children had fallen asleep as soon as Jack had started the engine.  
Angela had been grateful for his offer to take them home. She was tired, and didn't want to walk all the way; besides, Jack was a very pleasant person to be around and she wanted to spend some time with him.

They had talked a bit about their respective jobs. Angela worked at the city hospital as a neurologist and neurosurgeon. Jack had been impressed, since she seemed so young - she had bashfully explained her cursus had been shortened because of her capacities. The man told her he used to be in the army, before he completely changed his career path and became a fitness instructor.  
Before they had time to chat some more, they had arrived at her apartment in the center of the city. 

"Thank you for handling the... incident so well." Angela had said with sincerity. "Most parents aren't very understanding. Which I get, but... still. It hurts."  
"It's nothing, Angela. I've known... people like your fella. They ain't bad; they just need the right words, discipline and love. He's lucky to have you."

Angela had blushed deeply, before Jack had handed her a paper with a hasty scribble.

"This is- uh, my number, if you want us and the kids to get some ice cream another time."  
"I'd be glad to. Take care, Jack, and thanks again."

She had offered him her brightest smile before stepping inside her apartment. 

That night, when she tucked him into bed after reading him his favorite story, Jamie had given her a look full of suspicion:

"Are we going ta see them again?"  
"Jack and Lena? Why not? They're nice people."  
"The mister maybe, but the sheila, I don't know yet. I don't trust her." the kid had pouted, sticking his tongue out.  
"Don't say that just yet. She was nice to you, she even shared her things with you."  
"But what if it was a trick?"  
"Jamie... I'm sure she's honest. She seems like a nice girl."

Jamie answered her with a dramatic sigh. Angela shook her head with a smile, before kissing his forehead.

"Goodnight, my grumpy little mouse. I love you."  
"Yeah, goodnight mommy. Love ya too."

She lit his nightlight before leaving the room and heading to hers.  
When she started to fall asleep, she still had the same dopey grin on her face, her dreams soon to be filled with an blonde angel who had blue eyes shining as bright as the stars.


End file.
